Richard Climan | Silicon Valley | Hogan Lovells

Richard Climan
Climan Richard
  • Overview
  • Experience
  • Credentials
  • Insights and events

Richard E. Climan is a preeminent M&A lawyer who has handled some of the most prominent and industry-changing acquisitions in the tech and life sciences sectors over the past three decades. He has been described as "one of the best legal minds in M&A" and a "gold-standard transactional lawyer." He is Global Head of Hogan Lovells' Tech M&A practice and sits on the firm's global Mergers & Acquisitions Leadership Team.

Climan excels at negotiating and advising multinational clients on all types of acquisition transactions. In Chambers USA, he has a Band 1 ranking, being described by clients as "the dean of M&A," a “total star” and a “visionary.”  He has been recognized by The National Law Journal as one of its inaugural technology law Trailblazers and one of the 100 Most Influential Lawyers in America. He was named by the Daily Journal as one of the Top 100 Lawyers in California ten times since 2010.

Since joining Hogan Lovells, Climan has led many high stakes deals, including Walmart’s ~ US$16 bn. cross-border acquisition of a 77% stake in Flipkart and Marvell Technology’s  acquisition of publicly traded Inphi, valued at ~ US$10 bn.

For more than 30 years, Climan has been an active member of the ABA's M&A Committee, with over 5,000 members, serving as Committee Chair from 2002 to 2006. He co-chairs the ABA's annual Nat'l M&A Institute, now in its 28th year, and is the former Chair of the Northwestern Sec. Reg. Institute, now in its 53rd year. He is founding Chair of the "Buyer Power Ratio" deal points study, launched in 2017.

Climan lectures around the world on M&A-related matters and has presented at Harvard, Columbia, UCLA, Stanford, UC Berkeley, Duke and University of Virginia law schools.

With his many decades of international dealmaking experience and thought leadership, Climan is sought after to serve in the role of senior strategic corporate counselor to multinational enterprises in addressing the complex and multi-faceted legal and business challenges they face.

Representative experience

Lead outside counsel to Walmart in its ~ US$2.3bn acquisition of VIZIO and its ~ US$16bn acquisition of a majority stake in Flipkart.

Lead outside counsel to Marvell in its acquisition of Inphi in a transaction valued at ~ US$10bn.

Lead outside counsel to Sovos Brands in its sale to Campbell in a transaction valued at ~ US$2.7bn.

Lead outside counsel to Marvell in its acquisition of Cavium in a transaction valued at ~ US$6bn.

Lead outside counsel to Marvell in its acquisition of Aquantia in a transaction valued at ~ US$450m.

Lead outside counsel to Synopsys in its acquisition of Black Duck Software in a transaction valued at ~ US$565m.

Lead outside counsel to Synopsys in its acquisition of WhiteHat Security in a transaction valued at ~ US$330m.

Lead outside counsel to Illumina in its successful defense against Roche's ~ US$6.2bn hostile takeover attempt.*

 

Lead outside counsel to Sabre Corporation in its acquisition of Radixx, valued at ~ US$110m.

 

Lead outside counsel to Synopsys in its acquisition of Magma Design Automation in a transaction valued at greater than US$500m.*

Lead outside counsel to Brocade Communications in its acquisition of Foundry Networks in a transaction valued at more than US$2.5bn.

Lead outside counsel to Aspect Development in its sale to i2 Technologies in a transaction valued at ~ US$9bn.*

Lead outside counsel to Arterial Vascular Engineering in its sale to Medtronic in a transaction valued at greater than US$3.5bn.*

Lead outside counsel to Gilead Sciences in its acquisitions of Myogen for ~ US$2.5bn and CV Therapeutics for ~ US$1.4bn.*

Lead outside counsel in the sale of the Los Angeles Dodgers to a buyout group led by Guggenheim Partners for more than US$2bn.*

Lead outside counsel in the sale of Blackboard to a private equity group led by Providence Equity Partners for more than US$1.6bn.*

Lead outside counsel to Oracle in its acquisition of Responsys for ~ US$1.5bn.*

Lead outside counsel to VeriFone in its sale to Hewlett-Packard in a transaction valued at greater than US$1bn.*

Lead outside counsel to Dell in its acquisition of Compellent Technologies for ~ US$1bn.*

Lead outside counsel to Aspreva Pharmaceuticals in its sale to Galenica Group in a transaction valued at ~ US$915m.*

Lead outside counsel to SEQUUS in its sale to Alza in a transaction valued at ~ US$550m.*

Lead outside counsel to Arterial Vascular Engineering in its acquisition of CR Bard's cardio catheter laboratory business for ~ US$550m.*

Lead outside counsel to Alibaba.com in its acquisition of Auctiva.*

Lead outside counsel to Gilead Sciences in its acquisitions of Triangle Pharmaceuticals and Corus Pharma.*

Lead outside counsel to Ant Financial in its acquisition of EyeVerify.*

Lead outside counsel to Onyx Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition of Proteolix.*

Lead outside counsel to Twilio in its acquisition of Authy.*

Lead outside counsel to Raptor Pharmaceuticals in its acquisition of the rights to Quinsair.*

Lead outside counsel to Dell in its acquisition of SecureWorks.*

Lead outside counsel to Recourse Technologies in its sale to Symantec.*

Lead outside counsel to Bank of America Merrill Lynch and Barclays as financial advisors on various acquisitions in the technology sector.*

*Matter handled prior to joining Hogan Lovells.

Credentials

Education
  • J.D., Harvard Law School, cum laude, 1977
  • B.A., Harvard College, cum laude, 1974
Bar admissions and qualifications
  • California
Memberships
  • Adjunct Faculty Member, Real World M&A, UCLA School of Law (2010-2012)
  • Co-Chair, annual ABA National M&A Institute (2005-2019)
  • Chair, M&A Panel, annual Securities Regulation Institute, Northwestern Pritzker School of Law, Coronado, CA (2006-2019)
  • Lead Faculty Member, Hogan Lovells annual "M&A Boot Camp" training series (2017-2019)
  • Chair, annual Columbia Law School M&A negotiating workshop (2012-2019)

Recognition

Hall of Fame

Lawdragon

2023
Corporate/M&A (California – SF/SV & surrounding areas), Band 1

Chambers USA

2020-2025
Corporate M&A (International & Cross-Border) (USA)

Chambers Global

2025
M&A/Corporate and Commercial: M&A: Large Deals ($1bn+), Leading Lawyer

Legal 500 US

2025
U.S. M&A Powerlist (Inaugural Edition)

Legal 500 US

2024
500 Leading Dealmakers in America

Lawdragon

2025
Thought Leader, M&A and Governance

Lexology Index

2025
USA Thought Leader, M&A and Governance

Who's Who Legal

2024
Global Elite Thought Leader, M&A and Governance

Who's Who Legal

2023
Top 100 Lawyers in California

Daily Journal

2010-2014, 2018-2022
M&A, Highly Regarded - State

IFLR1000

2024
Pharmaceuticals and life sciences, Highly Regarded - State

IFLR1000

2024
Technology and telecommunications, Highly Regarded - State

IFLR1000

2024
100 Most Influential Lawyers in America

The National Law Journal

2006
Technology Law Trailblazer

National Law Journal

2019
California Trailblazer

The Recorder

2019
US Innovative Lawyers

Financial Times

2011, 2017, 2019
Legends of the 500

Lawdragon

2015